2024 Corporate Aviation Leadership Summit

Jetoptera, a start-up developing innovative VTOL and STOL aircraft concepts using bladeless fan technology, has completed its fourth small business innovation and research &nbsp;(SBIR) contract for the U.S. Air Force as part of the development work for a High Speed VTOL (HSVTOL) military aircraft. The Washington-based company this week reported that it has&nbsp;conducted an initial evaluation of what it calls its “3-in-1” propulsion system and is preparing to start wind-tunnel tests with a subscale model.
The Jetoptera HSVTOL concept is based on its patented <a href="https://www.futureflight.aero/news-article/2021-04-26/jetoptera-touts-fluidic-propulsion-system-quieter-more-efficient">fluidic propulsion system</a> (FPS). The company says the technology is scalable and can power aircraft with a takeoff weight of up to 10,000 pounds (4,500 kilograms).&nbsp;
For the latest <a href="https://www.futureflight.aero/news-article/2022-08-22/us-air-forces-hsvtol-challenge-propels-jetoptera-fluidic-propulsion">SBIR contract</a>, Jetoptera designed, built,&nbsp;and tested an upper-surface blown wing structure fitted with what it referred to as “a powered-high-lift test article” that incorporates the FPS. The company plans to use the data from these tests to optimize the conceptual design for an HSVTOL aircraft it has said could be ready to fly in 2025. 
In a January 11 statement, Jetoptera said that it expects the conceptual aircraft to fly at speeds of around Mach 0.8, which it says will be twice as fast as a tiltrotor aircraft can travel. Under a separate STTR Phase II contract for the Air Force, it intends to validate the design during the first half of 2023.
<figure role="group" class="caption caption-drupal-media align-center">
<article class="media media--type-image media--view-mode-default">
 
 <div class="layout layout--onecol">
 <div class="layout__region layout__region--content">
 <div class="block block-layout-builder block-field-blockmediaimagefield-media-image">
 
 
 
 <div class="field field--name-field-media-image field--type-image field--label-hidden field__item"> <img loading="lazy" src="/sites/default/files/futureflight/import/eVTOL%20autonomy%20tested.jpeg" width="3840" height="2160" alt="Jetoptera has already flight tested a sub-scale demonstrator version of a VTOL aircraft using its Fluidic Propulsion System." title="Jetoptera has already flight tested a sub-scale demonstrator version of a VTOL aircraft using its Fluidic Propulsion System, and is now optimizing a design for the U.S. Air Force. (Image: Jetoptera)">

</div>
 
 </div>
<div class="block block-layout-builder block-field-blockmediaimagefield-caption">
 
 
 
 <div class="field field--name-field-caption field--type-string-long field--label-hidden field__item">Jetoptera has already flight tested a sub-scale demonstrator version of a VTOL aircraft using its Fluidic Propulsion System, and is now optimizing a design for the U.S. Air Force. (Image: Jetoptera)</div>
 
 </div>

 </div>
 </div>

 </article>

<figcaption>Jetoptera has already flight tested a subscale demonstrator version of a VTOL aircraft using its Fluidic Propulsion System, and is now optimizing a design for the U.S. Air Force. (Image: Jetoptera)</figcaption>
</figure>
The work for the Air Force was conducted with Northrop Grumman subsidiary Scaled Composites, which helped with the design of the high lift system and test article. Static testing was performed with Scaled Composites using an off-the-shelf electric booster compressor procured for the program.
Breakthroughs Include Greater Lift
According to Jetoptera, the partners achieved several technical breakthroughs, including testing with an electric air compressor feeding the FPS thruster-ejectors, which are used to distribute primary air for hybrid or all-electric systems. It also demonstrated lift co-efficients of greater than 8.0, which the company said is up to 40 percent better than propeller-blown wing units demonstrated by other programs, as well as recording lower noise and vibrations.
Like Dyson’s bladeless electric fans for domestic equipment such as vacuum cleaners, the FPS has no visible moving parts or propellers. Rather, the technology uses a relatively small flow of compressed air from a turbo-compressor to suck in a much greater volume of ambient air, creating a vortex that significantly amplifies the airflow through an aerodynamic loop. Additional thrusters augment the thrust output of the FPS.&nbsp;
&nbsp;

Managing Editor

Charles Alcock

Jetoptera Makes Progress with Propulsion System for U.S. Military's HSVTOL Aircraft

Jetoptera, a Washington state-based&nbsp;company developing innovative new VTOL and STOL aircraft concepts using bladeless fan technology, says it is on track to deliver a new prototype to the U.S. Air Force (USAF).&nbsp; In a letter to investors published last week, it reported that it will be ready to begin demonstration flights in 2025.
The start-up is one of 11 companies selected by the U.S. Department of Defense to develop a high-performance VTOL aircraft as part of the <a href="https://www.futureflight.aero/news-article/2021-08-11/jetpacks-speeder-joins-jetoptera-and-other-hsvtol-contenders-pentagon">High-Speed VTOL Challenge</a>, a collaboration between the Air Force’s Afwerx program and the U.S. Special Operations Command. The HSVTOL Challenge aims to come up with an alternative to the Air Force’s current helicopters, providing new aircraft that can fly faster and longer, carry larger payloads, and provide more flexibility to carry out a variety of defense missions.&nbsp;
Jetoptera’s HSVTOL concept is one of seven designs, including four VTOLs and three STOLs, that utilize the company’s patented <a href="https://www.futureflight.aero/news-article/2021-04-26/jetoptera-touts-fluidic-propulsion-system-quieter-more-efficient">fluidic propulsion system</a> (FPS). It is designed to carry payloads of up to 800 pounds (360 kg) across a range of up to 400 miles (630 km), at a speed of 400 mph. The company says the technology is scalable and can be used to power aircraft with a maximum takeoff weight of up to 10,000 pounds (4,500 kg).&nbsp;
The FPS, which Jetoptera has been developing since 2015, is a unique propulsion system that the company has referred to as “bladeless fans on steroids.” Just like Dyson’s bladeless electric fans for domestic equipment like vacuum cleaners, the FPS has no visible moving parts or propellers. Rather, the technology uses a relatively small flow of compressed air from a turbo-compressor to suck in a much greater volume of ambient air, creating a vortex that significantly amplifies the airflow through an aerodynamic loop. The thrust output of the FPS is augmented by additional thrusters.&nbsp;
For now, Jetoptera is relying on gas generators to power its vehicles, but it could also use electrically-powered compressors once the available battery technology improves. The company says the energy required to propel its smallest aircraft at 200 mph (320 km/h) for 30 minutes is 100 kilowatts, which could be provided by either 26 kilograms of jet fuel or 600 kilograms of existing lithium-ion batteries. In order for battery power to be feasible in its designs, Jetoptera says future batteries will need to have an energy density of at least 1,500 watt-hours per kilogram, which is about four times the energy density of batteries available today.
Jetoptera has already tested the FPS in flight with its eye-catching technology demonstrator, a quarter-scale model of the J-2000 eVTOL, which features a peculiar boxed-wing design combined with a canard. The design is significantly quieter than existing rotorcraft, with the company claiming the FPS produces 25 to 30 decibels less noise than even the quietest rotors and propellers on the market today. The company says it has received interest from an undisclosed prospective customers for commercial applications of its planned J-4000 model, which would have a larger payload of up to around 800 pounds and range of 200 miles.
<article class="align-center media media--type-video media--view-mode-default">
 
 <div class="layout layout--onecol">
 <div class="layout__region layout__region--content">
 <div class="block block-layout-builder block-field-blockmediavideofield-media-oembed-video">
 
 
 
 <div class="field field--name-field-media-oembed-video field--type-string field--label-hidden field__item"><iframe src="https://backend.ainonline.com//media/oembed?url=https%3A//youtu.be/xV_AVsscuBk&amp;max_width=0&amp;max_height=0&amp;hash=cgmCRHqjvQIji7WkdhAOad4OAMizpNCcodVLG23dJPU" width="200" height="113" class="media-oembed-content" loading="eager" title="Quarter-scale model of Jetoptera-2000 eVTOL, hover and wingborne"></iframe>
</div>
 
 </div>
<div class="block block-layout-builder block-field-blockmediavideofield-caption">
 
 
 
 <div class="field field--name-field-caption field--type-string-long field--label-hidden field__item">Quarter-scale model of Jetoptera-2000 eVTOL, hover and wingborne</div>
 
 </div>

 </div>
 </div>

 </article>
For Phase 1 of the HSTVOL Challenge, Jetoptera partnered with aerospace giants Northrop Grumman and Pratt &amp; Whitney to determine the feasibility of the company’s HSVTOL aircraft and to refine the concept. The team’s analysis, completed in June, found that the aircraft concept “will exceed the maximum speed of the fastest rotary wing aircraft by around 200 knots,” or about 230 mph (370 km/h), Jetoptera officials wrote in the recent letter to investors. Jetoptera says it has submitted proposals for Phases 2 and 3 to deliver a prototype to the USAF by 2025.&nbsp;
Separately, in May, the USAF’s Afwerx program awarded Jetoptera a Phase 2 Small Business Technology Transfer Program (STTR) contract worth $750,000. Under this contract, Jetoptera is partnering with the University of Washington to conduct a wind tunnel testing campaign with a subscale model of one of its concept HSVTOL aircraft, named Hedwig. The Phase 2 STTR contract builds upon the success of two previous Phase 1 STTR contract awards and a Direct to Phase 2 SBIR contract award from the USAF.
In 2021, as part of a Phase 1 STTR contract, Jetoptera and the University of Washington “obtained experimental evidence that FPS can be adapted to provide high-efficiency thrust and lift augmentation to a wing, enabling an aircraft to take off vertically and transition smoothly to wingborne flight,” Jetoptera officials wrote in a May 31 statement.&nbsp;
In the letter to investors, Jetoptera reported it has reached new technical readiness milestones under the USAF’s Direct to Phase 2 SBIR contract. The company said the wind tunnel tests it conducted under this contract have successfully demonstrated lift augmentation using the FPS in combination with an upper surface blown (USB) wing aircraft configuration, and that it achieved “unprecedented” levels of lift coefficients.&nbsp;
<figure role="group" class="caption caption-drupal-media align-center">
<article class="media media--type-image media--view-mode-default">
 
 <div class="layout layout--onecol">
 <div class="layout__region layout__region--content">
 <div class="block block-layout-builder block-field-blockmediaimagefield-media-image">
 
 
 
 <div class="field field--name-field-media-image field--type-image field--label-hidden field__item"> <img loading="lazy" src="/sites/default/files/futureflight/import/jetoptera%20FPS%20wing%20flap%20system.jpg" width="2200" height="1081" alt="Jetoptera’s FPS combined with a blown wing flap system" title="This photo shows Jetoptera’s FPS combined with a blown wing flap system, which the company built and tested to support one of its Direct to Phase 2 SBIR programs. (Credit: Jetoptera)">

</div>
 
 </div>
<div class="block block-layout-builder block-field-blockmediaimagefield-caption">
 
 
 
 <div class="field field--name-field-caption field--type-string-long field--label-hidden field__item">This photo shows Jetoptera’s FPS combined with a blown wing flap system, which the company built and tested to support one of its Direct to Phase 2 SBIR programs. (Credit: Jetoptera)</div>
 
 </div>

 </div>
 </div>

 </article>

<figcaption>This photo shows Jetoptera’s FPS combined with a blown wing flap system, which the company built and tested to support one of its Direct to Phase 2 SBIR programs. (Credit: Jetoptera)</figcaption>
</figure>
The FPS provided roughly eight times more lift than the wing can produce on its own, and the FPS and USB wing combination produced about 30 percent more lift than competing STOL aircraft concepts that have propellers distributed along the wingspan, according to Jetoptera. The company is now using data from those wind tunnel tests to further develop its VTOL and HSVTOL concepts, and it is exploring the possibility of using the technology for new <a href="https://www.futureflight.aero/news-article/2021-05-06/investors-back-regents-plans-all-electric-wing-ground-effect-seaglider">wing-in-ground-effect maritime vehicles</a>.&nbsp;
In addition to its work with the USAF, Jetoptera is also working with San Diego-based Freedom Flight Works to develop a variant of the FPS under a contract with the U.S. Army. Together with Jetoptera, which was awarded this subcontract in January, Freedom Flight Works aims to demonstrate a powered parafoil fluidic propulsive system (PP-FPS) to enhance the capabilities of the military’s Joint Precision Airdrop Delivery System (JPADS).&nbsp;
<figure role="group" class="caption caption-drupal-media align-center">
<article class="media media--type-image media--view-mode-default">
 
 <div class="layout layout--onecol">
 <div class="layout__region layout__region--content">
 <div class="block block-layout-builder block-field-blockmediaimagefield-media-image">
 
 
 
 <div class="field field--name-field-media-image field--type-image field--label-hidden field__item"> <img loading="lazy" src="/sites/default/files/futureflight/import/jetoptera%20recuperated%20gas%20turbine%20turboshaft.jpg" width="2200" height="1080" alt="Jetoptera procured this recuperated gas turbine turboshaft from Turbotech." title="Jetoptera procured this recuperated gas turbine turboshaft from Turbotech. (Credit: Jetoptera)">

</div>
 
 </div>
<div class="block block-layout-builder block-field-blockmediaimagefield-caption">
 
 
 
 <div class="field field--name-field-caption field--type-string-long field--label-hidden field__item">Jetoptera procured this recuperated gas turbine turboshaft from Turbotech. (Credit: Jetoptera)</div>
 
 </div>

 </div>
 </div>

 </article>

<figcaption>Jetoptera procured this recuperated gas turbine turboshaft from Turbotech. (Credit: Jetoptera)</figcaption>
</figure>
Jetoptera says it has completed the first tests of an FPS thruster prototype for JPADS and procured the first recuperated gas turbine engine to power the air compressor that feeds the FPS. The gas turbine turboshaft was supplied by the French company Turbotech. According to Jetoptera, the first stationary demonstration of Freedom Flight Works’ parafoil system is expected to occur later this year. In its letter to investors, Jetoptera said it plans to reveal details about a second project it is working on with Freedom Flight Works in the near future.&nbsp; 
&nbsp;

U.S. Air Force's HSVTOL Challenge Propels Jetoptera Fluidic Propulsion Technology

The U.S. Air Force and U.S. Special Operations Command have selected JetPack Aviation’s Speeder VTOL vehicle to take part in the High Speed VTOL (HSVTOL) Concept Challenge organized by the USAF’s Afwerx unit to evaluate options for possible military applications. The Afrwerx team is evaluating 35 vehicles selected from 218 initial entries, and the short-listed aircraft also include a vehicle being developed by Jetoptera in partnership with Northrop Grumman.
Several HSTVOL showcase events are being held this month. These involve briefings to USAF and special missions personnel as to how each VTOL solution might meet their needs.
According to California-based JetPack, the mission profiles being considered include getting special forces troops in and out of combat zones, evacuating military personnel, aeromedical support, and tactical mobility. It claims that its Speeder vehicle is well suited to these missions, with its gimballed turbojet engines expected to deliver&nbsp;speeds of almost 300 mph. The company believes that by not having rotors, ducted fans, or propellers, the aircraft will have fewer ground infrastructure needs.
Companies selected from the HSVTOL Concept Challenge process could receive Pentagon funding to conducted further research and development work. “The USAF and USSOCOM are seeking ground-breaking ideas that will further strengthen operational effectiveness and efficiency in contested, resource-constrained, and runway-dependent settings,” said Reid Melville, chief innovation officer with the Air Force Research Laboratory, when launching the challenge in May.
JetPack Aviation recently completed flight trials with its first Speeder prototype. It expects to start testing a second full-scale prototype during the third and fourth quarters of this year. A third prototype—featuring a fully-formed fuselage, field-removable wings, and forward canards—should begin flight testing in the first half of 2022.

JetPack's Speeder Joins Jetoptera and Other HSVTOL Contenders in Pentagon Challenge

Jetoptera believes the moment has arrived for its patented Fluidic Propulsion System (FPS) as an alternative to existing multi-rotor and/or propeller-driven electric and hybrid-electric propulsion systems for new eVTOL and eSTOL aircraft designs. Having worked on the technology since 2015, the U.S.-based start-up says its current technology demonstrator will be able to power aircraft with a maximum takeoff weight of up to 10,000 pounds, and potentially more.
The FPS is based on a turbine that powers a turbo-compressor with the thrust output being augmented by thrusters. On its eye-catching aircraft demonstrator, Jetoptera has integrated these thrusters into a box-wing design combined with a canard, which it has tested in a wind tunnel, and has also used FPS for powered flight on a glider.
Apart from augmenting the available thrust, the company is also promising an industry first:&nbsp;according to cofounder and chief technology officer Andrei Evulet, the FPS will produce at least 25 to 30 decibels less noise than the current quietest rotors and/or propellers.
Jetoptera recently put what it claims is an exceptional noise signature to the test, commissioning aero acoustics expert Robert Dougherty to use his Functional Beamforming for Aeroacoustic Source Distributions approach and an acoustic camera to provide an objective assessment. 
“We found that the system had no tones at all, unlike [rotors, propellers, turbofan or turboprop] blades running at low and high frequency, and there were no peaks audible to humans,” Evulet told FutureFlight.&nbsp;“A tone has the characteristic of pitch, similar to musical notes. That tonal blade chopping the air up can be heard in the sea of broadband wind noise because the human ear excels at picking up tones.&nbsp;
"FPS, however, resembles noise similar to the broadband nature of wind noise, at multiple different frequencies but lacking the character of pitch. In places like New York, Los Angeles, and London, our aircraft wouldn’t be heard until it was about 200 feet away.”
Evulet—who was formerly an engineer with GE Aviation working on large turbofan programs like the GE9X developed for Boeing’s 777-9 long-haul airliner—established Jetoptera in his garage back in 2015, along with then-CEO Denis Dancanet and CFO Simina Farcasiu. He has since been joined by former Collins Aerospace executive Todd Newton as vice president of business development.
As it works to attract investment to advance its own plans for an&nbsp;aircraft, the Jetoptera team has generated revenues with&nbsp;U.S. military research and development contracts from agencies such as the Army Aerial Delivery Directorate. It has been a subcontractor to Paragrine Systems, LLC, which is working on powered parafoils for unmanned cargo delivery missions.
The FPS technology is based on the Coandă effect, discovered by Romanian engineer Henri Coandă around 1910. Jetoptera has already tested its concept canard plus boxed wing airframe with subscale pusher propeller models, and with electric ducted fans and turbojets, as well as using the FPS to power a glider in flight.
“Lift augmentation results from the blown-wing architecture, Evulet explained. “A lot of the performance comes from the improved low-pressure suction from the front of the FPS&nbsp; placed on top of the wing, the boundary layer ingestion, and the increased stall margin.”
Jetoptera, which says it holds 18 patents already, believes it could have a 4,000-pound prototype of its aircraft flying by 2024 or 2025, with a 350-pound drone version by 2022. Jetoptera is also open to proposals for converting multiple existing aircraft, such as the Cessna 182 piston single, for which it says the FPS would provide more efficient fuel consumption and speeds, with recuperated turbines.
According to Newton, current batteries are&nbsp;barely sufficient to support short flights for eVTOL aircraft, and the technology is&nbsp;unsustainable until battery energy densities drastically improve. In Jetoptera’s view, its approach to distributed propulsion can deliver more power, efficiency, and safety now and is adaptable to multiple aircraft architectures. &nbsp;The company claims it is far quieter and safer than any alternative and better positioned for public acceptance. 
&nbsp;
&nbsp;
&nbsp;

Jetoptera

News

Jetoptera Makes Progress with Propulsion System for U.S. Military's HSVTOL Aircraft

U.S. Air Force's HSVTOL Challenge Propels Jetoptera Fluidic Propulsion Technology

JetPack's Speeder Joins Jetoptera and Other HSVTOL Contenders in Pentagon Challenge

Jetoptera Touts Fluidic Propulsion System as Quieter, More Efficient Alternative to Electric Power

AIN Products

SUBSCRIPTIONS

RESOURCES

ABOUT AIN